


The Last Dance

by Archer_Willows



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Death, Escape, F/M, One Shot, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:42:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27789193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archer_Willows/pseuds/Archer_Willows
Summary: A short one-shot from Oola's perspective the day of Luke's arrival at Jabba's palace, where she makes a desperate bid for freedom.
Kudos: 3





	The Last Dance

**My feet swept the sand on the floor.** I never enjoyed dancing in Jabba's palace, as I feared what he would do to me. He was a sick slaver, who kept me chained to him during the dances so I could never escape. The other slaves had resigned themselves to him, but I had never given in. I always resisted his commands. That's why I had the chain. I never felt joy in dancing for him, in that dastardly perverted dress I was forced to wear. 

But today, today was different.

Supposedly, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Knight, was coming to the palace today, where he would make a deal with Jabba. His hope was to free some slaves in his possession. I had to believe I would be free. Today would be my last dance for Jabba. 

So I danced like I never had. I moved my hips and glided across the dusty floor with as much exhilaration as possible. 

All eyes were on me thrughout the entire show. For once, I wasn't embarrassed to dance. Because this time, I meant it.

I danced so well, Jabba beckoned to me. I knew immediately what he wanted. I shook my head violently. "No! No! Please, no!" I shouted. 

Jabba just laughed and pulled me forwards. I struggled against my chain. I refused again. 

He roared in anger and slammed on his seat. Too late did I realize what he'd done.

The floor disappeared from under me as I tumbled into the cave beneath his throne room. 

Still not registering what happened, I carefully rose from the floor, shivering. It was cold in the cave, and my stupid dress did nothing for my warmth. 

Trying to figure out what to do, I hadn't stopped to think about what was happening until I heard the door begin to rise.

The Rancor. It stepped into view and left it's cage. It hadn't eaten in days. And I was defenseless. Right in front of him. 

Fear erupted through me. I began to sob and scream. I was afraid of death. The rancor did not care. He stumbled towards me and roared. My feet left the ground as his slimy, gross hand lifted me towards his mouth. I squirmed and pushed, desperately trying to free myself. But it was no use. I was directly over his giant mouth. I closed my eyes and braced for death. 

And then the Rancor set me on the ground. 

Confused, I opened my eyes, then immediately blinked. There was someone else in the cave. 

The rancor was heading straight for him.

The man didn't even seem fazed. He was handsome, not very old, either. I watched in disbelief as he fought the rancor. _Fought._ A rancor. I was instantly in awe of him.

Especially when the rancor fell dead at his feet.

He looked at me, and held out his hand.

"Come on, we need to get out of here," he said. 

I took his hand, and asked, "Wait. Can I at least have your name?"

He thought for a second. "Luke," he said.

"Oola."

He grabbed me and pulled me out of the pit. 

We ran throughout the palace, evading the guards and Jabba, as well as his bounty hunters. We were trying to escape.

Hunters loaded up ballistae on the palace, and they began shooting. Luke helped me evade them. None of them hit. 

Luke caught me, and stopped me from dying. I'd almost ran off the edge of the roof and plummeted to my death. Hoverships lay in front of us. Behind us was certain death. 

There was no escaping. 

Then, Luke had an idea.

"Hold on," Luke instructed. He grabbed hold of my waist and pulled me close, then jumped off the platform.

I may have screamed. Just a little. Or a lot. Who could say.

Suddenly, we stopped plummeting. The full dive turned into a sharp incline, than into a forty five degree angle. I opened my eyes and realized we were swinging from a rope, towards a platform far away. 

My nails dug into Luke's shoulder as we swung, fifty feet above ground, with no safety net or harness, my only chance of survival to cling on to Luke and pray the rope didn't snap. 

Jabba's forces still shot spears at us, but we were going too fast to get a hit on.

Our fall stopped, and we arced upwards. The platform was so close. We were going to make it! I breathed a sigh of relief. 

You know the saying: Never tempt fate.

Suddenly, I felt a terrible sense of dread. I could feel it before it even happened.

I can't describe what it felt like, exactly. Adrenaline masked it for a while.

Just right of my abdomen, I felt something. Couldn't say what, but all I know was that it was cold. Cold, immediately followed by warmth. A warm feeling dribbling down my leg as we continued to fly towards the platform. It didn't feel like much, but then I started to go lightheaded immediately. That's when the worst happened.

The cold in my chest suddenly erupted into incredible pain. Unimagineable agony flowed through my mind. My face tightened as a mix between a scream of pain and a sob built in my throat. My tight grip on Luke went slack. Tears of pain welled up in my eyes as the pain grew. The warm feeling began to rise up my throat. My head tipped downwards. My eyes glazed over in disbelief and agony as I stared at the javelin sticking out of my chest, the shaft still embedded in my back. Blood covered my hip and flew down my leg. My eyes broke as the tears flowed down my face. The pain wasn't stopping. The pain grew as the rest of me faded. Almost all I was was pain. The only part of me not feeling pain felt myself discharging urine. I didn't even ponder that. Why would I?

The blood reached my mouth, and I felt it start to flow out of my lips. My conscienceness faded quicker than I could've imagined. My life was slipping away before my eyes. My hand almost fell off of Luke's shoulder completely. 

I didn't feel when we landed on the platform. I didn't feel our feet touch the ground. I barely saw Luke's face when he looked at me and saw what had happened. His eyes widened, and I felt my hand slip free, and I crumpled on the steel walkway. Awkwardly laying down, as blood flowed from my chest. I was even coughing up the stuff. 

The pain was worse than physically possible. The feeling of life slipping away only made me want to cling on more. 

I had done this to myself. None of this would've happened if I hadn't gotten carried away with my dancing. I'd gotten too confident, too comfortable, that I'd forgotten about Jabba's savagery. 

I couldn't use my last seconds to dwell on it. I stared at Luke, determined that his eyes would be the last thing I ever saw. At least he had been friendly. 

My vision tunnelled, and white grew in the corners of my eyes, growing towards the center.

One last tear flowed from my face as my body stopped struggling and spluttering, and my chest stopped heaving. My breathing halted, and I knew what it was like to die. 


End file.
